Nikaia is today bidding farewell to Giorgos Mazonakis, a man who never forgot the neighbourhood where he was born and raised.
At 1pm, relatives, friends, colleagues and members of the public will gather at the Church of the Holy Trinity in Nikaia to say their final goodbye to the popular singer, who died suddenly at the age of just 54.
Mazonakis’ body was transferred to the Holy Trinity on Sunday afternoon, to the church of his beloved parish, for an overnight public vigil organised to give people the opportunity to pay their respects in person.
His family had announced that the vigil would continue until the early hours of Monday morning.
Nikaia stays awake for Mazonakis
From early in the evening, the streets surrounding the Holy Trinity were packed.
Hundreds, and later thousands, of people travelled to Nikaia to pay their respects to the singer and leave a flower, shed a tear or simply take one final look at the artist whose distinctive voice and presence left an indelible mark on Greek music.
The scenes were unprecedented. Streets surrounding the church filled with people and, at times, traffic struggled to move through the area. Police introduced special measures to manage the crowds and ease congestion.
And amid the profound emotion, Nikaia began to sing.
Some of Giorgos Mazonakis’s best-loved songs could be heard through loudspeakers and from among the crowd. Fans sang Ores Mikres, Thelo na Gyriso sta Palia and Eisai to Lathos mou to Teleftaio, turning the night of mourning into an extraordinary musical vigil for an artist who died far too soon.
Some sang from the street, others from the balconies of their homes, while many waited patiently in line for hours for the opportunity to enter the church.
In one of the evening’s most moving scenes, local residents watched from their balconies as friends and fans sang Mazonakis’ greatest hits in the streets of Nikaia.
Family asks for respect during difficult moment
During the night, according to reports, Mazonakis’ family at one point asked for the singing to stop.
The music fell silent, but resumed a short time later, with the crowd applauding.
People continued arriving until the early hours of the morning, demonstrating the depth of affection the public held for the singer.
The overnight vigil was more than an opportunity to pay respects. It became a spontaneous collective farewell from a public that had grown up with his music.
Final farewell today
Today, Monday 14 September, at 1pm (Greece time), the Church of the Holy Trinity in Nikaia will once again open its doors for Giorgos Mazonakis’ funeral service.
Where thousands gathered yesterday to pay their respects, relatives, friends, colleagues and fans will today stand beside him for the final time.
His burial will follow at Athens’ Third Cemetery in a private ceremony attended by close family members, according to information released by his family.
Nikaia, the city where he was born and raised, will therefore become the place where Giorgos Mazonakis receives his final round of applause.
The man who sang about love, loss, relationships, and life’s victories and defeats leaves behind an extensive recording career and a public that did not want to farewell him in silence.
They said goodbye in the way they loved him.Through his songs. And Nikaia, his “old neighbourhood”, stayed awake through the night, singing for one of its own.
